The B-21 Raider is a new Air Force superweapon - a stealth bomber that has taken the Northrop Grumman close to a decade to develop on time and under budget. But the US Air Force has been shrinking its bomber fleet since the collapse of the USSR - the Soviet Union. So why develop the B-21 Raider now? Why embark on a huge and highly costly new bomber project now? 

To dig deeper into this history, I spoke with Dr. Melvin Deaile. He is the Director of the School of Advanced Nuclear and Deterrence Studies, and an Associate Professor in the Department of International Studies at Air University’s Air Command and Staff College. Dr. Deaile teaches classes on nuclear deterrence, nuclear strategy, joint warfighting, and classical military thought. He is a retired Air Force Colonel, where he served two tours in the B-52 Stratofortress and a tour in the B-2 Spirit. He has flown combat operations as part of Operations DESERT STORM and OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, including a record-setting 44.3-hour combat mission, and deployed in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

He is the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and a distinguished graduate of the USAF Weapon School.  Dr. Deailerecently published his first book, Always at War, which chronicles the development of SAC’s organizational culture under Gen Curtis LeMay. Of course, we discuss that book in this episode.

To learn more about Dr. Deaile, you can visit his academic homepage. And here is an Amazon link to his latest book, Always at War, which we discuss in this episode. 

In addition, below are links to two other fascinating episodes: 

S2E8: History of Wars in Ukraine, Dr. David Stone
S2E5: Who Are Ukrainians?, Dr. Catherine Wanner 

I hope you enjoy these episodes.

Adel

Host of the History Behind News podcast

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